Classic Gaming Expo was a

gaming convention A gaming convention is a gathering centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three days long, and often held at either a u ...

dedicated to the people, systems and games of the past, with an emphasis on old

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

. The Expo was founded in 1999 by John Hardie, Sean Kelly and Keita Iida, In 2000, Joe Santulli replaced Iida as the show's co-organizer. The conventions have typically been held in the

Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Stat ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, but have sometimes been held in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

. In addition to the expo, Kelly, Hardie and Santulli founded the Videogame History Museum, a traveling museum of classic video games and equipment that is on display at events like

E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publisher ...

and GDC (Game Developers Conference). In April 2016, the traveling museum celebrated the building of a permanent facility known as the National Videogame Museum in

Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in Collin and Denton counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Its population was 200,509 at the 2 ...

. Currently, as of May 2020, Hardie is the resident curator.

History

In October 1995, videogame collectors Hardie, Iida and Mike Etler, founded North Atlantic Videogame Aficionados (NAVA) at Video Game Connections, Etler's videogame store in

Howell, New Jersey Howell Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The township is the largest municipality in the county by total area, comprised of about . It is located in the New York metropolitan area and has been a steadily gro ...

. The purpose of the quarterly event was to provide a meeting place where videogamers could meet and discuss videogame collecting as well as a place to buy, sell and trade games. The group was a hit and attracted collectors from all around the north east from Canada to South Carolina. In 1998, Hardie and Iida decided to make NAVA national. They teamed up with Richard Tsukiji to include classic gaming memorabilia at Tsukiji's annual World of Atari show. The show was held in Las Vegas at the Holiday Inn Boardwalk Hotel and Casino on August 21–23, 1998. The event was such a success that Hardie and Iida decided to break away from World of Atari and, along with Sean Kelly, created their own show, Classic Gaming Expo. Classic Gaming Expo has been held at the following dates and places: * 1999 – August 14–15 – Las Vegas – Plaza Hotel * 2000 – July 29–30 – Las Vegas – Plaza Hotel * 2001 – August 11–12 – Las Vegas – Plaza Hotel * 2002 – August 10–11 – Las Vegas – Plaza Hotel * 2003 – August 9–10 – Las Vegas – Plaza Hotel * 2004 – August 21–22 – San Jose – McEnery Convention Center * 2005 – August 20–21 – Burlingame, California – San Francisco Airport Hilton * 2007 – July 28–29 - Las Vegas - Riviera Hotel * 2010 – July 31-August 1 – Las Vegas – Tropicana * 2012 – August 11–12 – Las Vegas – Plaza Hotel * 2014 – September 12–14 - Las Vegas - Riviera Hotel

References

External links

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Classic Experience
Las Vegas Valley conventions and trade shows Defunct gaming conventions 1999 establishments in Nevada {{videogame-culture-stub